


Leaving Las Vegas

by Clea2011



Series: Impressions [9]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-24 00:52:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4899202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clea2011/pseuds/Clea2011
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s an automatic, Arthur,” Merlin had grinned as he’d climbed into the driving seat. “The clue’s in the name. How hard can it be?”<br/>Arthur gritted his teeth and tried not to cling to the seat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leaving Las Vegas

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [【授權翻譯】Leaving Las Vegas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9075049) by [chicrenee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicrenee/pseuds/chicrenee)



> This was started for last week's Camelot Drabble prompt 'experience' but I failed to finish in time (and have just a few hours to add in this week's, which will be a 2nd chapter to this for the prompt 'new beginnings')  
> This chapter is for the 'friends to lovers' Merlin trope bingo square. Not betaed, so please let me know if there are errors.

Arthur Pendragon did not enjoy being a passenger.

Even when he was in a chauffeur-driven car, in the care of a professional, still he preferred to be behind the wheel himself. Merlin was _not_ a professional. Also, it was quite possible that he had not only never driven on the other side of the road before, but also that this was his first time in charge of an automatic.

“It’s an automatic, Arthur,” Merlin had grinned as he’d climbed into the driving seat. “The clue’s in the name. How hard can it be?”

Arthur gritted his teeth and tried not to cling to the seat.

To be fair, Merlin had got used to the automatic fairly quickly as he’d been watching Arthur and asking questions. No, that wasn’t the problem. Well, mostly it wasn’t. The big problem was that whenever they needed to slow down (which luckily wasn’t often), Merlin kept reaching down with his left hand and hitting the car door with it because he was automatically reaching for the gearstick.

“It’s not there, Merlin,” Arthur told him when he did it the fourth time. “No gear stick, and even if there was it would be on the other side.”

Merlin glared at him. “Why didn’t you hire a manual?” he complained. “I don’t like it, I don’t feel in control.”

Arthur knew that feeling. Also, the fact Merlin felt that way didn’t really reassure him very much. It was only bearable because it was a very long, straight, open road and there were almost no other cars around.

“I’ve driven automatics before,” he said. “And I’ve driven over here before. I wasn’t expecting you to get behind the wheel. Why don’t you just pull over, and I’ll drive again?”

Merlin ignored him, and kept going.

 _It’s a long, straight road_ , Arthur reminded himself. Perhaps if he didn’t look, it would be better.

“You’ll miss all the scenery if you close your eyes,” Merlin warned him. “Honestly, are you going to be one of those husbands who spends all their time criticising their partner’s driving?”

Arthur opened his eyes guiltily. “I was tired,” he offered. Any attempt at a snarky comeback had gone straight out of the window at the mention of the words husband and partner. Because the man sitting beside him, the man he’d had a huge, unrequited crush on for months now, was in the eyes of the law both of those things. Merlin, obviously, thought it was a big joke, but it wasn’t a joke to Arthur. He could remember too much about the previous evening for it to be a joke. Specifically, he could remember kissing his new husband and just how very right that had felt. He looked across at Merlin, who had that serious look he got when he was concentrating on something, despite his flippant comment. He would of course be determined to get the driving right, and if Arthur wanted to take over any time soon he knew he would just have to pretend Merlin was doing a fine job. That would win him back the driving seat faster than anything.

“Shall I just be quiet so you can sleep?” Merlin asked more gently. “Still a little way to go, I’ll wake you when we get there.”

“No,” Arthur tried to look a little more alert. He wasn’t sure about the scenery though. It had all looked exactly the same for a long time now. But then, he could watch Merlin instead. Merlin, who was driving along with his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow, because he’d insisted on having the windows open instead of air con, the breeze ruffling his dark hair. Merlin, who had both hands firmly on the wheel when he wasn’t scrabbling for the non-existent gearstick, because that was the sort of driver he was. Arthur stared at those hands, suddenly noticing something.

“You’re still wearing my ring!”

Merlin glanced down, and Arthur could see the start of a blush tinting his skin. But then the serious and determined look was back.

“You gave it to me. Mine now. Besides, I’ve always sort of liked it.”

Merlin was wearing it on his thumb, because his hands were slightly smaller than Arthur’s. Still, he _was_ wearing it. That had to mean something. Arthur was about to start probing, because Merlin was joking too much about the whole being married thing, and there was that blush, and Morgana and Gwen’s matchmaking… But just then his phone started ringing again.

“Must be near civilisation again,” Arthur muttered. Their phones had been dipping in and out of reception for most of the journey. It had stopped Morgana reaching them, but there had been a number of missed calls and messages last time he checked. He wasn’t surprised, when he looked at the display, to see it was Morgana calling again.

“Maybe you should answer it,” Merlin suggested. “Tell her what we’re doing.”

Arthur really didn’t want to, but Morgana wasn’t going to let up until he did. Praying silently that she didn’t know about the wedding, he swiped his thumb across the answer button.

“Where are you?” Morgana wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat, obviously.

“Good morning…uh… afternoon to you too.”

“Don’t mess about, Arthur. The hotel say you’ve checked out. Merlin too.”

“Yeah, we decided you didn’t need us so we’re going to the Grand Canyon. Getting the whole road trip experience.” He grinned at Merlin as he said it, enjoying the way his companion laughed when he heard. “Nearly at Flagstaff.”

“What about the show?”

“Leaving it all in your capable hands. We’d only get in the way.”

“You know we’re flying home the day after tomorrow?”

Arthur didn’t, he’d thought it was the day after that, but he wasn’t going to let Morgana know that. “Yes, we’ll be back in plenty of time, don’t worry.”

“Put me on speakerphone so Merlin can hear me.”

Arthur wasn’t going to do that and told her so.

“Fine. You tell me then, why when they gave me all the rubbish you’d left behind, there was a big cake with a plastic Elvis on it? It’s hideous. Why, Arthur? Why have I got an Elvis cake?”

Oh _no_ …

“She’s got the Elvis cake,” he hissed to Merlin, who stopped smiling immediately. “The hotel gave it to her. I thought they’d just throw it away!”

“Does she know it’s a… um…what sort of cake it is?”

“No!” Arthur hissed.

“And why does it say ‘ _married in fabulous Las Vegas_ ’ on a little iced plaque on the bottom tier?” Morgana asked.

“No idea,” Arthur lied.

“Hmm. That’s odd, because I spoke to George at the hotel, and he said…”

“Reception’s getting really bad, see you in a couple of days, bye!” Arthur rang off before she could tell him what George said. “Oh god, she knows.”

Merlin glanced at him worriedly. “She’ll tell Mum! We need to go back.”

“No.” Arthur suddenly felt very calm about the whole thing. “She won’t do anything till we get back. No fun if I’m not there. So just drive on, we’ll have our break and then face her on the flight home.”

“You told her we’d get in the way,” Merlin said slowly.

“We would. This is much more fun.”

“But that means you didn’t need to be on this trip, not really,” Merlin pointed out.

Arthur shrugged, and pocketed his phone. “Sometimes Morgana needs me. Contract negotiations, anything financial. But no, she could have managed without me this time, even in LA,” he admitted. “I could have used Skype for the one meeting I actually needed to attend.”

“Mmm,” Merlin hummed thoughtfully. “And me coming along was completely pointless. You didn’t need me here at all.”

Oops. Arthur had forgotten that he’d ordered Merlin to come along for no good reason. Well, there was a good reason, but not one that he was going to admit to Merlin. “I thought you’d enjoy it. It’s basically a free holiday.”

“One where I had a creepy photographer pestering me, and… oh! Let’s not forget the accidental marriage. The one Mum’s going to kill me for.”

“She’ll get over it when she’s invited to Pendragon Manor for Christmas and gets waited on hand and foot.”

“Oh no, Mum always cooks Christmas dinner. She’d hate that. You’d have to come to Wales and have Christmas with us.”

“My father wouldn’t stand for that!”

“Well Mum would cry.”

Merlin’s mother obviously cried quite a lot, Arthur realised. He was starting to wonder if it was all a bit of emotional blackmail, because Merlin knew he had a bit of a soft spot for her. Just because she always sounded so nice on the phone when she rang up to speak to her son, and possibly because she often sent Merlin back to London with boxes of home baking that he always shared round the office. Arthur couldn’t even remember his mother, but he always thought she’d probably be kind and nurturing like Merlin’s mother was. But Merlin had obviously noticed this and was making the most of it.

“Christmas at your mother’s, New Year with my father. Only fair.”

Merlin smiled, and Arthur had to remind himself that this wasn’t real, Merlin was just kidding around and they would be getting an annulment as soon as they got back home.

“Lucky it’s not real, then,” he commented. Perhaps it was just his imagination, or wishful thinking, but he thought Merlin’s smile dipped a little. He decided to keep prodding, testing the water to see if Merlin really was interested. Because if there was a chance, then Arthur wasn’t going to let it go.

His phone beeped with an incoming text. It was Morgana, of course.

“Say hi to my new brother-in-law! Great choice, I approve. And George says you’re considering annulment. Don’t you dare even THINK about it. Flight home is 5.20 Tuesday out of Vegas. Don’t miss it. Have fun on your honeymoon X”

Arthur was going to kill her.

“Morgana again?”

“Yes. She says hi.”

“And happy honeymoon?”

Merlin had been working with Arthur’s sister for too long, obviously. “You know Morgana. Anyway, we’ve got to be at the airport late Tuesday afternoon. That gives us a full day out here tomorrow, then we’ll drive back Tuesday morning. We could hire a plane, fly out across the canyon.”

Merlin would hate the flying, but he’d probably cling to Arthur so it was all good. He had two days to make that a permanent thing in his life. He looked over at the ring again. Why was Merlin still wearing that? It had to mean something.

“Or we could go hiking,” Merlin suggested. “I can’t wait to see it. Everyone says it’s spectacular. Thanks for doing this, Arthur. I know you just wanted to get away from Vegas, but this is going to be great!”

Arthur just nodded to himself, because he was starting to hope that it might be.

\---

The Grand Canyon was everything people said it was. Even Arthur was impressed. It was vast and spectacular and beautiful, and as soon as he saw it he knew two nights just weren’t going to be enough.

They’d stopped for a quick break at a petrol station (Arthur was absolutely not going to call it gas. It wasn’t gas, it was petrol) and Arthur had managed to get back behind the wheel before Merlin could do so. Merlin wasn’t too bothered, he’d picked up a guide book and read out choice segments all the rest of the way there. He’d even managed to ring ahead and book them into one of the hotels. It was a twin room. Arthur tried not to look too disappointed. It was still a shared room, and he still had two days. And you could pull those beds together and make one. He knew, he’d checked while Merlin was in the bathroom. Just in case.

They’d decided to spend what was left of the first day walking along the canyon rim. Still slightly hungover, that was about all they could manage. Arthur wasn’t sure about Merlin’s ideas about hiking down to the Colorado river the next day. It was over 14 miles round trip, half of which would be walking back _up_ the canyon.

“We could hire a helicopter or something?” he suggested, and Merlin looked appalled.

“You have to walk the canyon,” he insisted. “All the guide books say so.”

The one single guide book Merlin had picked up said so. Arthur wondered if he could find one that said flying was better.

By the time the sun started setting, Arthur was feeling pretty tired. There were, apparently, no bad places to watch the sun set over the canyon, just good places and even better places. According to Merlin’s guide book.

They sat together on a rock near the rim, watching the sky turn a myriad of blues and pinks and purples surrounding the golden glow. A single eagle soared out over it all, surveying its domain.

“It’s so beautiful,” Merlin breathed.

Arthur leaned back just a little so that he could see Merlin’s face against the spectacular backdrop.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It really is.”

Merlin was completely distracted by the scenery, so Arthur took out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures. It wasn’t until the third shot that Merlin realised it wasn’t just the sunset in the frame.

“Hey!”

“For your mum,” Arthur defended quickly, quite pleased with himself for thinking of that excuse. “It’ll help her forgive me for the wedding.” He gave what he hoped was a winning smile. “We should do a selfie.”

Selfies were great. They meant huddling very close together in order to get both of them and the backdrop in. Arthur had to take quite a few before he was satisfied they would be up to the standard Hunith would require. If a framed copy appeared in Arthur’s flat too… well, it was a great shot.

The sun had almost set by the time they’d finished with the photos, and they sat there quietly watching the last slivers fade over the horizon.

“We should get back,” Arthur said. It was getting cooler, and he moved closer to Merlin’s warmth. Merlin didn’t move away so he shifted closer again.

“Just a few minutes more. It’s been a good day,” Merlin told him. “I don’t want it to end.”

Arthur shrugged. “Doesn’t have to. Dinner in the hotel restaurant next. I’m starving.”

“Always thinking of your stomach,” Merlin said, but his tone was fond.

“Not always.”

Merlin looked at him then with an indecipherable expression on his face. Arthur wondered if he knew what Arthur had meant. There was one thing Arthur was always thinking about.

“I’m glad we came out here,” Merlin was still looking at him with that same curious expression. “I’ve had a great time.”

“Even with the wedding?”

Merlin shrugged. “It got us out here. And it was funny. We’ll laugh about it one day.”

“What, on our 25th anniversary?”

“Maybe.” Merlin, Arthur noticed, hadn’t laughed at that. He still looked quite serious. “Arthur, why did you fly me out here? Really.”

It was starting to get dark. They probably should be heading for the shuttle bus stop and getting back to the hotel. But Merlin was waiting for an answer.

“I thought you were going away with Gwaine. He’s not good enough for you,” Arthur admitted.

“Not as good as someone who’d get me plastered and have a tacky wedding in Vegas presided over by Elvis,” Merlin agreed, grinning. Arthur felt his heart give a little leap. There were few ways to take what Merlin had just said. He could almost hear Morgana’s voice shouting at him to go for it. It was a definite prompt. So…

“I liked one part of the wedding,” Arthur admitted.

“What was that?” Merlin asked gently. “The singing?”

“No.” Arthur paused, then before he could lose his nerve he leaned in close. “This.” And he kissed him.

There was a brief squeak of surprise from Merlin, then he began to kiss Arthur back every bit as enthusiastically as he had in the wedding chapel.

It was getting cold. But with Merlin warm in his arms, Arthur didn’t care.


	2. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It really was the morning after the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for 'new beginnings' prompt for Camelot drabble, and 'stranded' Merlin trope bingo square.

Monday morning looked pretty good as far as Arthur could see. Everything was golden.

That was partly due to the sunlight streaming in through the half-open curtains, bathing everything in a warm glow. But it was also due to the warmth from Merlin’s naked body sprawled across Arthur’s, which as far as Arthur was concerned made everything golden, permanently.

For a few minutes he just lay there, watching Merlin sleep and listening to the little snuffling noises he made, feeling the warm huff of his lover’s breath on his neck. He could see that ring still on Merlin’s thumb. If Arthur had his way, that was never coming off (except maybe briefly for a proper ceremony where they were both sober). Merlin was his now, and he was never going to give him up.

He shifted slightly, trying not to wake Merlin up but needing to get into a more comfortable position because his left arm was starting to go to sleep under Merlin’s weight.

“Uh…” Merlin grunted, lifting his head and blinking blearily awake. His hair was sticking up at odd angles. It was adorable. He looked around at Arthur, and gave a sleepy, slightly shy smile. “Hi…”

“Hi yourself,” Arthur drew him back down into a kiss. “Mmmm…”

Merlin kissed him back enthusiastically, dispelling any concerns Arthur might have had that this was just a one-off. Merlin was just perfect. He wondered why he’d ever thought this was a bad idea. He didn’t want to say that Morgana had been right, but… yeah, best not to say it. She was going to be unbearable.

Merlin broke away, and pushed him back gently. “Two minutes,” he promised, scrambling out of bed and heading for the en suite.

Arthur watched him go, admiring the long, lean angles of his lover’s body as he moved across the room, then lay back, waiting.

They’d made the twin beds into one when they’d got back the previous night. The sheets were the wrong size, but apart from that the beds had fitted together just as easily as Arthur had expected. Nearly as well as he and Merlin fit together. All the same, he thought he’d tell the hotel there was a mistake and they should have had a double room. Or at least have bigger sheets.

He’d do that later. Merlin was coming out of the bathroom and climbing back into bed, snuggling up to Arthur. They had all day, and all night. Maybe they wouldn’t leave the hotel room.

“You didn’t really want to go hiking off down into the canyon, did you?” he asked hopefully. “Seems a waste of a day when we could be… well, staying in here.”

Merlin laughed, and pushed at him playfully. “We should see the sights.”

“Oh,” Arthur rolled him over onto his back, pinning him down and straddling him when he started to wriggle. “I’ll show you some sights…”

\---

Arthur had secretly dreaded Tuesday morning.

Waking up with Merlin was as perfect as the first time. The little holiday was turning into a new start for them both, and Arthur didn’t want it to end. But Tuesday was the day that they had to head back to Vegas, return the hire car and get to the airport.

The hotel wake-up call rang at 7.30 exactly, and the operator cheerily informed him that it was indeed 7.30 and this was his call. There was probably something wrong with people who were that cheery early in the morning, he thought. He wondered if the hotel room service would stretch to making him a decent coffee.

They hadn’t made it down into the canyon. It wasn’t that they hadn’t left the hotel room at all. No, there had been a brief trip out for at least 30 minutes, but they hadn’t got any further than one of the gift shops before they’d turned round and gone back to their room. Arthur felt vaguely guilty as he knew Merlin had wanted to walk the canyon. Perhaps he’d take him back there again for a proper holiday?

He sat up and switched on his phone. It had been off most of the previous day as Morgana had been sending annoying texts, but he thought he’d better check in case of flight delays. A delay would be quite good. Another night in the hotel…

There were an alarming number messages from Morgana on his phone, and as Merlin turned his on, Arthur could hear the tell-tale bleeps from that as well. He started to play the answerphone messages.

_“Arthur, I hope you’re on your way.”_

_“Arthur, it’s 4.30, the plane leaves in less than an hour.”_

_“Arthur, ring me!”_

_“Where the hell are you?”_

_“Arthur, you’ve got ten minutes!”_

_“Dammit, Arthur, they won’t hold the plane.”_

_“Well I hope you two have been having bloody good sex, because you’re going to have to find your own way home!”_

Merlin looked up from his own phone, worried. “Gwen says we’ve missed the plane. How? It wasn’t supposed to go until this afternoon, you said.”

Morgana had said it was the afternoon, he knew she had. He checked back to the original message. “Morgana said it was 5.20 out of Vegas. It’s only 8.40 now.”

Merlin snatched the phone out of his hand. “Let me see. 5.20… not 17.20, Arthur! 5.20 in the morning. Ugh! This is why it’s me who organises your diary!”

Well that was stupid. “Who books a flight at that sort of time?”

“That would be Gwen. Shortage of empty leg flights from Vegas, she was saying. I didn’t realise it meant we were flying home in the middle of the night!” Merlin sat down on the edge of the bed. “Now what do we do? We’re stranded.”

They were. Stranded in a top holiday destination, with no problem paying the hotel bill for a few more days because Arthur was hardly short of money. There were worse situations to be in.

Arthur shrugged, unconcerned. “We’ll find a commercial flight. Maybe in a week’s time. I haven’t taken any holiday in months.”

Perhaps they could take that hike down into the canyon after all. He gazed at Merlin, perched on the end of the bed, and reached for him.

Tomorrow. They’d do the walk tomorrow.

 

 


	3. Compromising

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Camelot Drabble prompt 'compromise'

All good things had to come to an end. Eventually Merlin and Arthur’s sort-of-a-honeymoon finished, and they had to head home. Arthur had made their break stretch out for three glorious weeks, in which time they’d visited Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, King’s Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and then headed up to the Canadian border and visited Niagara. They’d done a few cities as well, ending up in New York, but they both agreed the national parks were what they’d both enjoyed the most.

Sadly, Arthur couldn’t stay away any longer because there were some important meetings the following week and he needed to attend, so reluctantly they’d bought tickets home. Now they were checking in at JFK airport. Arthur watched Merlin handing over his passport, and frowned.

“It says Emrys,” he commented, when they were safely through security and standing in a queue for coffee.

“What does?”

“Your passport. It says Merlin Emrys.”

“That’s my name,” Merlin confirmed. “So it would.” Arthur thought he caught an eye-roll, but Merlin was turned slightly away, looking at the list of drinks up above the coffee machines, so he couldn’t be sure.

“Well you’ll need to get that amended, won’t you? You’re Pendragon now.”

Merlin looked at him slightly incredulously. “I am _not._ ”

Arthur leaned over and tapped the ring Merlin was still wearing. “Married.”

“We were drunk. You’re getting it annulled,” Merlin reminded him. “Then I expect to be wooed. Extensively.”

Arthur had been torn for weeks between wanting to just stay married, and his desire for a huge over the top proposal followed by a carefully planned and romantic wedding. Followed by a proper honeymoon, because the practice one had been great. So he didn’t argue the annulment, although part of him really wanted to. The name, however…

“But when we remarry,” he began.

Merlin apparently couldn’t hide his huge, delighted grin at that assumption, but didn’t interrupt.

“When we remarry, obviously you’ll take my name.”

“Obviously?”

“It’s an ancient and respected name. Goes back to legendary kings!”

“Emrys is ancient too. Goes back to legendary wizards.”

“Who didn’t actually exist. Wait, is that why your mum gave you that silly first name?”

Merlin glared at him. “Merlin’s a great name! And I’m keeping my surname.”

“Well I’m not giving up Pendragon.”

“Well then we’ll sound like we’re not married, won’t we? Not impressive wooing so far, Arthur.” Merlin pouted at him, and Arthur couldn’t help staring at those lips and thinking what a waste it was not to kiss him. So he did. It had the bonus effect of stopping the argument as well.

They were interrupted a few minutes later by a discreet cough from the barista. Merlin blushed adorably, and ordered for them both.

“Name?”

“Merlin and Arthur… _Emrys_ ,” Merlin told her, giving Arthur a cheeky grin as he did so.

“Pendragon,” Arthur put in.

The girl looked at them both, and Arthur felt very slightly sorry for her, she probably got idiots in there all day.

“Merlin Emrys, Arthur Pendragon,” he told her, handing over the money. “He refuses to take my excellent and ancient family name.”

The girl smiled at them, scribbled on the cups, took the money and turned away to make their drinks. Arthur and Merlin wandered to the end of the counter.

“This doesn’t mean I’ve given up,” Arthur told him, using the wait time as an excuse for a cuddle. “I just didn’t want to give the barista a hard time.”

Merlin snuggled in. “You’re improving. I’m obviously a good influence. Ah, our coffees.” He picked them up and headed for the nearest table. Sitting down, he took a closer look at the paper cups and what was written on them, then shoved one towards Arthur. “Well, that would be a compromise.”

 _Arthur Emrys-Pendragon_ was scrawled on the side of his cup, and when he looked across at Merlin’s he could see _Merlin Emrys-Pendragon_ scrawled over it. It was a great idea. He’d have to leave a big tip for the brilliant service. There was, of course, just one thing wrong…

“I like it. Except… it would have to be Pendragon-Emrys, naturally.”

Merlin narrowed his eyes. “That sounds silly. Emrys-Pendragon is alphabetical and clearly better.”

The worst thing was, Merlin was right. And, eventually, Arthur knew he would have to capitulate, because even he thought Emrys-Pendragon sounded better. But he didn’t see why he should make it easy for Merlin.

“Pendragon-Emrys, I think.”

“Fine,” Merlin sipped his coffee. “You know, the woman’s maiden name traditionally comes first in double-barrelled surnames? So yeah, you can be the wife in this relationship.”

Arthur wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but he wasn’t going to risk it. He could just imagine Merlin meeting Arthur’s father and explaining that, and then his father’s reaction…

“No way.”

Merlin edged closer, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and added in a whisper: “Which means I get to top, all the time!”

“Funny.”

“Mmm,” Merlin leaned in and kissed him. “I love you, Mr Pendragon-Emrys.”

Arthur melted, just a little bit, every time Merlin told him he loved him. “And I love you, Mr Emrys-Pendragon. I suppose we’ll have it your way round. I’ll want compensation though.”

As he reached to kiss his husband again, Arthur couldn’t help notice Merlin was looking a little bit smug, and realised he’d probably been had.

He really, really didn’t care.

 


End file.
